A Crisis (That Must Be Handled)
by GGMK
Summary: The Avengers have yet another crisis to deal with. One that may be worse than a bunch of Chitauri! Why are dead villains back? Who are these aliens? Can the Avengers stop them? Will Loki help? Featuring Guest-stars and robots!
1. Meeting for the Crisis (Its early)

Tony Stark was finally getting ready to hit the sack, after quite a few hours of non-stop tinkering in his lab. Yeah, it probably wasn't very healthy, staying up all night just to see if he could build a suit with a pedometer, but…why the heck not, right?

He turned off the final computer, and then trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. Sure, he could use the elevator, but his room was conveniently only a floor above his office. That way, he could always be near his precious suits. And no, that didn't make him creepy. It just made him very dedicated to his work. And what if someone tried to steal the suit? At least he'd be nearby to try and stop the thief.

Tony crawled into the not-so-empty bed. Pepper was already there, and of course, fast asleep. Tony felt kinda guilty for that…but he'd make it up to her, somehow. He was nothing if not resourceful. But he would think about that in the morning. As he closed his eyes, the alarm rang.

No. Just no. This had to be a sick joke. No one would call this late (_early_?), not right when Tony was about to count armor. Sighing, Tony got up, and went to pick up the phone.

"Hello? This better be good, because I am five second away from hanging up," Tony said, trying to put some sternness in his tired voice. The yawn that followed wrecked the effect, though. **Darn**.

"Tony, this is the emergency line. I wouldn't call if it weren't very serious," a commanding voice replied. Tony knew who it was. Nick Fury, the stiff-backed head of S.H.I.E.L.D. But even Fury didn't usually call after five A.M. Something must be up.

"Okay, I'm awake. Not that I want to be, but whatever. I'll nap later. But Fury, please, tell me the Earth is in danger. If it isn't, there is no way this is worth it," Tony replied, trying not to nod off.

"This is of the highest priority, Stark. Report to the helicarrier, now!" came the yelled response. Tony resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. He just hoped that Pepper would forgive him!

After putting on his standard armor, Iron Man flew to the Helicarrier, knowing that if he was late, Fury would probably scold him, as usual. It wasn't that Tony even cared, but it did get old after a while. Fury would yell at him, Stark would pretend to listen, Fury would make a threat, Stark would roll his eyes, etc. Not much variation there.

Upon arriving at his destination, Stark let the facial part of his armor retract. It was easier to talk to people that way. Iron Man entered the conference room, where he met up with some of his team-mates: the patriotic Captain America, the pretty (and **lethal**) Black Widow, and the archer, Hawkeye. They were all sitting at the round table.

"Hey, guys. How come you don't look tired at all? And where are Blondie and Always Angry?" Tony rapidly questioned.

"Unlike you, we get our daily amount of rest," Widow dryly replied. She had little patience with small things like that. In her professional opinion, it was dangerous to get any less sleep than needed. Being sluggish on a mission could lead to your death. That wasn't an option for a S.H.I.E.D. agent.

"As for Thor and Hulk, Thor went to Asgard last week. He wanted to spend some time with his family," Captain America said.

"He wanted to spend time with Jane too, I wager," Hawkeye snickered. Black Widow hit him on the shoulder.

"And I figured that waking Bruce this late might not be a great idea".

The group turned towards the door, as Nick Fury stepped in, followed by Maria Hill.

"But rest assured, we will need their assistance down the line. When that time comes, I will have them brought over. But at the moment, you are all that are necessary. I will brief you on this mission now, but be warned – there is no going back." Nick Fury had a way with words.

The group sat up and grew serious. They were ready to hear about the crisis…

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

Author's Notes

And the first chapter of my first Avengers fan-fiction is up. Not much has happened yet, but I have plans. I'm not sure how frequent I'll post updates, but I don't plan to be one of those "updates every six months" people (no offense to people who do, as long as you're busy).


	2. The Lethal Weapon (Exposition)

As Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America waited for Nick Fury to inform them about the important threat, Fury snapped his fingers, and the lights dimmed as a large screen lowered from the ceiling.

"About 20 hours ago, we sent Agent Coulson and his team to a mysterious space station, seemingly abandoned by a foreign power. What they found, though, wasn't human. Before you ask, it wasn't Chitauri, either."

"With all due respect, sir, why did we check out an abandoned space station in the first place?" Black Widow asked.

"Our computers had detected high levels of a strange radiation, one that wasn't listed on any Earth database. In my experience, that is never a good sign," Fury replied as he pressed a button on a remote. The TV screen flashed, and then showcased a large, metallic cannon-shaped object.

It certainly caught Stark's attention. "Well…that looks really impressive. Like something I might build. But, not quite as cool, of course."

"Ok, sir, I'll bite: what is that?" Captain America asked, not being as technologically in-the-know as the others in the room. It was obviously a weapon, even Cap knew that, but specifics would be nice. Fury gave them all a dark look.

"We don't know the name, or what kind of metal. We had Coulson and his team evacuate the mission. What we do know is very bad, however. This weapon…seemingly has enough firepower to blow up half of Earth, _at least._"

You could probably hear a pin drop in the room at that moment. It was a pretty hard thing to take in; the Avengers had never faced anything with that much raw power. It was finally Stark who spoke first, no surprise.

"I don't see the problem here, Fury. Why don't I just fly up to that station, blow up the lethal weapon, and fly back in time for a martini and a pool party?" Tony was already calculating in his mind how long it would take to reach the station, what firepower he would need, and thus, which armor he should bring. The other three nodded at the question.

"You didn't let me finish," Nick said grimly. Tony rolled his eyes.

"_Maybe if you hadn't done that obvious pause,_" Tony muttered under his breath. Fury ignored him as he went on.

"Unfortunately, flying up there is no longer in option. It seems that when the SHIELD team set foot in the space station, it set off some kind of defense system. The team had barely escaped before a large, seemingly impenetrable energy barrier went around the station. Nothing can get in, I'm afraid. My best scientists have run calculations, and have all come to the conclusion that even the strongest Iron Man armor can't break it."

"How about Thor or Hulk?" Hawkeye questioned as he fingered one of his arrows.

"The barrier is made of energy, so for all Hulk's strength, it wouldn't matter. Thor would be able to…but not without destroying the whole station in the process, and it's possible that if we blew up the cannon by accident, it would have bad ramifications for Earth," Fury explained, somehow all in one breath.

"So, that's it? We just sit here and twiddle our thumbs? No thanks, Fury," Tony stated as he got up from his seat.

"I never said that," Fury said as he let out a rare grin. "I never said that at all…"

**To be Continued**

* * *

Sorry for all the exposition, guys! The next chapter should finally have some action! So look forward to it.

And yup, the aliens aren't Chitauri! Ooh, there go all your guesses.


	3. Old Enemies (Generators)

Iron Man flew towards a warehouse in London. With his rocket boosters, the flight from the Hellicarrier took less than half an hour. Not to toot his own horn, but he dared Thor to fly faster than that! He landed on the docks with a loud "thump" noise. He could have landed softly, but since when did he avoid making a flash entrance?

The warehouse in front of him, labeled "13" in dripping, white paint, didn't look very inviting. Iron Man wasn't exactly waiting for an invitation, though, so he decided that he didn't need to knock. Walking inside, not even trying to be quiet or stealthy, Stark thought to himself that finding the generator would be easy. After he walked around for a few minutes inside the warehouse, he decided that the word "easy" couldn't be applied here. The warehouse was filled with boxes, there were many obstructions, nooks where one could hide something, etc.

That's when he heard a hissing sound, coming from a small, not-quite closet that Stark hadn't noticed before. Edging closer, palms of his hands facing forward, Stark took in intake of breath. If there was a giant snake there, he didn't want to be caught unawares. Taking a few more steps, Stark paused when he heard a charging noise. His eyes widened! Quickly using his boots to blast him back, he narrowly dodged an energy-weapon that smashed through the mini-closet.

Quickly getting to his feet, Stark noted the glowing weapon had the Stark insignia. _Of course, it's always my tech, isn't it? I need to start suing some people._

"Hello, Tony. I see you're still fast on your feet, not that that'll save you," a voice rung out. Tony reeled back_. No. No, it couldn't be!_

"Obadiah Stane? How are you still alive?" Stark yelled, feeling some of his emotional control slipping. He knew he had to calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. But he was facing a man (well, a suit of armor called the Iron Monger, that had a man inside, to be precise) who should by all rights be dead! Then again, maybe he should have expected something like this…

* * *

"_So, Nick, care to run this plan by us?" Tony said, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed._

"_While we can't penetrate the energy barrier surrounding the space station, we have figured out a way to shut it down from the outside," Fury explained, once again turning to the large screen behind him. Pressing one of the buttons on the remote caused the screen to show the schematics of three small electronic devices._

"_These are generators that we suspect helps power that large barrier. Coulson's team found traces of radiation on Earth, the same kind they found at the station. Using our computers, we've pinpointed three locations where these energy signatures are originating from. Team, I want you to split up, and destroy the generators. Iron Man, I want you to fly to London. Widow, Hawkeye, you're headed to Moscow. Rogers, you're staying here in America. You have your orders. Find those generators…and destroy them!"_

* * *

_Well, I expected they'd be guarded. Only an idiot would go in unprepared for that. But Stane? Why would he work with evil aliens? I mean, yeah, he's a jerk and a traitor, but he's human. Doesn't he have a sense of loyalty?_ These thoughts all went through Stark's head as he ducked to avoid some blue energy bolts that Iron Monger shot at him. While they weren't as lethal as Iron Man's repulsor beams, they would probably still hurt, so they were best avoided.

Seeing that his energy bolts were being avoided, Stane brought the Iron Monger armor to get up close and personal. That was fine with Stark. If Stane wanted to have a melee fight, that's what he would get!

* * *

The Helicarrier had dropped Steve off at Harlem. Yup, an evil alien race had hidden one of their generators in Harlem. Steve wondered if these aliens even realized how many heroes lived in the near vicinity of Harlem. Maybe they didn't do their research.

Instead of a warehouse, Steve was surprised to see that the tracking device Nick gave him (courtesy of Pym Labs, apparently) took him to a post office. Awkwardly, the red, white, and blue soldier walked inside, nodding at the gaping civilians.

The tracking device seemed to imply that the generator was in one of the mail slots. At least, Steve thought so. He freely admitted that he wasn't the smartest when it came to technology. Still, he had to be sure.

"Apologies in advance, any and all damage will be compensated," Captain America reassured the bystanders before he ripped out part of the wall near the mail slot. One woman fainted. But it was probably worth it, because the generator was indeed there. Captain America picked it up.

"This doesn't look very fancy, compared to some of Tony's inventions. Alien tech must not be that impressive," Steve said to himself. As he turned to leave, though, a projectile hit his hand, causing him to drop the generator on the floor, where a sliding body snatched it. Having fast reflexes of his own, though, Captain America hurled his shield at the still sliding body, connecting with the wrist. Once again, the generator crashed to the ground.

The body, which had stopped sliding, stood up and dusted himself off. The man was tall, and worse a purple costume that covered his entire body. He had yellow boots, and a sword at his side. Captain America knew who this was; Baron Zemo, his old enemy from back in the day.

"Zemo! What are you doing here?" Steve asked. Had Zemo learned how to time travel? It didn't make sense. It seemed that Zemo wasn't in the mood for words, however, because instead of answering, he simply grabbed his sword, and dashed at Captain A.

With each sword slash, Steve would block with his unbreakable shield. The noise it caused forced any remaining bystander to cover their ears. The noise only increased, though, as Zemo upped the speed of his slashed, until they looked like a blur. In a contest of speed, Zemo might have the advantage, but…

Captain America quickly ducked down, and kicked out, tripping Zemo. Zemo, however, nimble used the momentum to do a backflip, not fall down as Captain America had intended. Steve wouldn't give him a reprieve though, as he ran at Zemo, who was still mid-flip. The two collided.

* * *

Deep in space, some figures were planning.

* * *

On Earth, deep in a laboratory, a figure waited.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well, the action has finally begun. I considered using Red Skull...but I don't like him, so...

The plot thickens. Next chapter, we'll see more of Widow and Hawkeye!


	4. Black Widow and Hawkeye (Assassins)

"So, are we there yet?" Hawkeye asked, as he put his hand behind his head, in what Black Widow thought was an annoyingly laidback way, considering that they were heading to Moscow to find and destroy a generator that was probably guarded. But then, that was one of the things she secretly liked about Hawkeye; his ability to stay calm in a dangerous situation, and keep the atmosphere fun. Not that he couldn't get serious when he had to, though. Black Widow knew that Hawkeye was one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents there was. She should know; they had been partners for years, and Hawkeye was one of the few agents who could best her in sparring contests.

"A few more minutes, OK, hotshot? Think you can shut up until then?" she joking asked back. Well, she supposed she was partially serious. Right now, some peace and quiet would be nice. Besides, they had just entered Moscow airspace, which meant they would be landing in less than ten minutes. Surely, he could be quiet until then…_right_?

Hawkeye opened his mouth, probably to make a "smart" retort, when the plane (that Fury assigned them for the mission) violently shook. Hawkeye fell from his chair.

"Clint, we've been hit by some kind of projectile, most likely a missile. Some of our engines have been hit; we'll have to make a crash landing!" Widow said, pressing various buttons, to help make their descent a bit easier. Hawkeye groaned.

"This is why I prefer piloting," he said. Widow shot him a look. Sighing, she shook her head, as the plane evened out a bit over a jungle.

* * *

_The crash wasn't so bad_, she decided. She supposed Fury would be upset that she lost a plane, but they were alive, which counted for something, at least in her book. Hawkeye didn't look that grateful, but his opinion didn't count at the moment.

"Nice landing, Captain Natasha," Hawkeye said bitterly, rubbing his shoulder. Widow ignored him. She was already searching the area for any clues about who could have shot at them, or from where. Unfortunately, them being in a jungle, with so much plant-life and foliage, it was hard to really learn anything. They couldn't even see the sky, the trees were so thick.

She noticed Hawkeye reach in one of his pockets. He removed a green monocle-shaped gadget, and put it on one of his eyes. She knew what it was; it was a device that let him track heat and smoke signatures. She felt re-assured when he grinned.

"Ah, I think I know what hit us, Natasha. Judging from the radiation type, it was a class-A 4567 missile probably shot from a KG56 launcher."

Widow arched an eyebrow. "You're not just making up fancy terms, are you?" Hawkeye gave her a sheepish look.

"No, no, of course not. I wouldn't do that, obviously."

Widow shook her head, and they headed towards where the missile was fired from. After a long trek, they came across an abandoned jeep. It was empty, but that was expected. Their enemy wouldn't be stupid enough to stay in the jeep. Hawkeye kicked the van in annoyance. That's when they heard the beep.

"GET DOWN!" Widow yelled as she and Hawkeye jumped away from the jeep. It blew up, seconds later. Widow smacked Hawkeye.

"You almost got us killed – AGAIN!" she said, losing her temper. Hawkeye out his hands up.

"Look here, you, I –"he got cut off by a bullet whizzing past him! He and Widow quickly dashed behind an oak tree. Widow had drawn her gun, and Hawkeye had his bow at the ready.

"Come on out, don't hide," a taunting voice called out. "Why don't we have some _fun?_" Widow peeked from behind the oak. Her eyes widened when she saw the assailant. Black-leather costume, with a bull's-eye symbol on his head. It was Bullseye, a master assassin. He was insane, and worse, very competent. He could kill with a penny or even a cupcake if he had to. To him, anything was a killer weapon.

Hawkeye, the idiot, didn't seem that worried, though. "Hey, you. Yeah, I'm talking to you, you walking dart-board! I don't care how skilled you are, you can't match my archery skills!" With that, Hawkeye quickly jumped out from behind the tree and fired five arrows in a second.

Bullseye laughed, and threw something at the five arrows, breaking them all. Widow groaned; that guy had even better reflexes than she had thought. But what had he thrown? Looking closer, she saw five marbles. What else did this guy have on him?

Bullseye laughed to himself. He would kill them all. _Kill_. _Kill_. _Kill_!

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

Author's Notes

As promised, some Black Widow and Hawkeye. To be honest, I have a hard time writing Hawkeye. I decided to go for his more devil-may-cry attitude from the comics/TV shows, but it can be hard balancing it with Widow's more serious nature.

And yay, Bullseye, a villain who is fun to write!


	5. Iron Man vs Iron Monger (Sky Fight)

Iron Man punched Iron Monger in the face. He made sure to put his back into that punch. If he could win this with one more punch, well, that would be just dandy. Iron Monger backed up a few steps, having been pushed back by the strength of the blow. Growing in confidence, Iron Man used his boosters to tackle Monger through one of the walls of the Warehouse.

_This isn't so bad. Why was I worried? I beat Obadiah before. I'll do it again. My armor has gotten much stronger, thanks to my upgrades. This should be cake, if I say so myself._

As Iron Man leaned in for another punch, Monger shot up like a rocket towards the night air. Stark sighed. He had been hoping for a quick match, but if Monger was gonna fly away like a wimp, this could take awhile.

Iron Man flew after Monger, and was pleased to note that he had the much greater speed. Stark smirked. Maybe Obadiah should have upgraded his mech. As Iron Man rocketed towards Monger, Stane's robot suddenly stopped…and started zooming towards Iron Man. Before Star could react, Monger had punched him, sending him plummeting to Earth. The punch was strong on its own; combined with the momentum, well, it was quite a wallop.

Iron Man stood up, noticing his landing had caused a small crater. Tony knew he would probably have to pay with that. Oh well, he could afford it, obviously. Still, it was annoying that Obadiah had tricked him like that!

"Jarvis, is there any extensive damage?" Tony asked, wanting to know before he flew up to fight again.

"No sir, the only damage I see is to your ego," Jarvis said smugly. Tony ignored him, turning in his boosters again so that he could battle Obadiah in the air.

"Sir, since Obadiah is currently away from the generator, I think it would be wise of us to destroy it now," Jarvis advised.

"Sorry Jarvis, but I have a score to settle," Tony said, zipping towards his enemy. Obadiah laughed, and had the Iron Monger fire some missiles at Iron Man. The missiles were crude, and large, so Iron Man shot them all down easily with some of his smaller wrist projectiles. The ensuing explosion caused some smoke to bloom.

Iron Man used his sensors to find Iron Monger. After a moment, the sensors confirmed Monger's location – behind Iron Man. Stark hastily turned around, only for Iron Monger to wrap a large metallic arm around Iron Man's neck.

"Well, Obadiah, you were known for your bear hugs, weren't you? Sorry, but you'll have to forgive me; I'm not really in the mood," Stark joked, trying to wriggle free. Obadiah just growled. As he couldn't wriggle out, Tony had another idea; he lifted his legs, and placed his boots on Monger's chest.

"Jarvis, activate boosters, full throttle!" Tony yelled. His boosters activated, sending Monger flying backwards. But Tony wouldn't give him time to relax, oh no. He fired his Uni-beam at the still moving Monger, blasting him to the ground.

Tony flew down towards the second crater made that day. He had to make sure that Obadiah wasn't _too_ beat up. As he reached to grab the armor – it vanished!

"What? Jarvis, what just happened?"

"Sir, it seems that the Iron Monger unit was never actually on the ground. Sensors are picking him up in the air. We never shot him down. The one we shot was a holographic image."

Tony couldn't believe this. The Iron Monger could never do that! Obadiah had done some upgrades after all, it seemed.

_Well, if it's a fight Obadiah wants, it's a fight he'll get!_ Tony gritted his teeth, and flew towards the real Iron Monger.

* * *

A powerful being laughed to itself. Little did Iron Man know, but Iron Monger has some more tricks to show off!

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Oooh, Iron Monger is stronger than Stark thought. And the "powerful being" may be the reason!

Sorry, silent song of shadows. Good guess, but nope. :)


	6. Iron Man vs Iron Monger (Conclusion)

**Sorry, its been so long since the last chapter!**

* * *

"Sir, I must advise you from trying that again," Jarvis helpfully said. Tony didn't have time to reply, as he ducked a rocket punch from Stane. Zipping around to Stane's blindside, Tony tried to put Iron Monger in a choking hold, but Stane was too quick, and shook him off.

"Haha, kill you!" Stane snarled as his Monger armor started to glow. Tony has no idea what that was about. The Monger armor glowing was definitely another new trick. Letting out a roar, the Monger armor let out an explosion. Reacting too late, Iron Man was engulfed in the explosion.

The HUB screen on the Iron Man armor became static as Iron Man fell to the ground. That was an EMP that Monger had fired! Iron Man was temporarily disabled!

"I don't understand! Monger has gotten a serious upgrade since last time. Did Stane do this while he was missing?" Tony asked himself. He realized that talking to himself was the first sign of insanity, but dangit, he needed to ask someone. Monger touched down next to the immobile Iron Man.

"Oh, Tony. You poor thing. I guess your armor wasn't up to snuff," Stane taunted, raising his helmet so that Tony could see him laughing. Tony huffed. He really hated Stane.

"Armors, Stane. As in, more than one armor," Tony stated. As Obadiah raised his eyebrows, an energy blast hit the Monger armor from behind. Letting out a roar, Stane turned around, and came face to face with at least a dozen Iron Man armor. Obadiah paled.

Using the confusion to his advantage, Tony quickly exited his damaged armor, and ran towards a blue one, which opened up for him. Using a control frequency, Tony commanded all the armors to blast the Iron Monger. A few minutes and explosions later, and Monger was down.

As Tony ran to check on Stane, he reflected on something he thought was weird. Stane seemed surprised when he was flanked by the various armor….but why? It was public knowledge after the whole Mandarin incident that he had built tons of armor. Had Stane not watched the news wherever he had been?

Removing the Monger helmet, Tony saw that Stane was unconscious. Tony lightly tapped the guy's face to wake him. After a few moments, Tony asked JARVIS to run a scan. The results weren't pleasant.

"Sir, it appears Stane is dead," JARVIS said in a calm voice that didn't really work for this situation. Tony opened his mouth, but nothing came out. That was impossible; Stane has been fighting and even talking.

"JARVIS…how long has he been dead?" He almost didn't even want to ask, but he had to know. Holding his breath, he waited for the answer.

"A very long time, sir. Over a year," JARVIS continued. Stark wracked his brain for a solution. Was this a clone of Stane? Was this an illusion? He quickly dismissed these. Stane was real, he was sure of it! Shaking his head, Tony flew to the air. He still had to blow up the generator, which he knew was in the warehouse. Facing his palm towards the ground, Iron Man fired a large energy blast, destroying the whole warehouse, and the generator.

"Now, to face the real problem…"

**_To Be Continued!_**

* * *

**Oh snap! Stane was dead? What does this mean?**

**And that's one generator down!**

**I saw _Transformers: Age of Extinction_. I don't get the hate, its better than the first three. I liked it, although it is pretty long.**


	7. Struggle in the Forest

**For those wonder, I made this story so it could take place anytime, but in my head, its in film continuity, I just added some new villains to keep things interesting.**

**I can also safely say: No time travel or Enchantress. But keep guessing. ;)**

* * *

Things were not going well. Hawkeye had already used up half of his arrows, and Bullseye had deflected every single one with various object, from coins to lighters. It was ridiculous, but Widow knew it was worth it. While Hawkeye was distracting Bullseye with a bombardment of projectiles, she was moving in for the kill. Bullseye would never know what hit him!

Widow charged up her Widow's Bite, which would stun Bullseye. Then, taking a deep breath, she sprinted towards the madman, who had just caught one of Hawkeye's faster arrows. Bullseye snapped it in half, laughing, before getting tackled by Widow. She wrapped her legs around his head, stabilizing herself as she prepared to sting him.

Bullseye grinned. Jumping back, he banged a tree, causing Widow to fall off, not being able to hold on to him due to the pain.

"Sorry, sweetie, but no one sneaks up on Bullseye. Take that lesson with you to the afterlife," he growled, his face twisting into an ugly picture. Widow tried crawling backwards, but a boot on her stomach stopped her. Bullseye licked his lips.

And then an arrow zoomed towards his neck, but Bullseye's amazing reflexes let him catch it without even turning around.

"Nice try, birdie," Bullseye taunted. Hawkeye smirked. Frowning, Bullseye looked down at the arrow in time to see it blow up into a new, which wrapped around him tightly. With Bullseye down, Hawkeye ran to Widow.

"Natasha? Natasha, are you okay?" he asked desperately. Widow decided to put the guy out if his misery, and stopped playing dead. Hawkeye rolled his eyes. She chose NOW to torment him like that? Gah.

"Anyway, we should find that generator, and report to SHIELD," Black Widow was saying as she pulled out a tracking device to find the generator. Hawkeye nodded.

"Looking for this?" a a teasing voice cried out. Hawkeye and Black Widow turned around. There was Bullseye, safely out of the net, holding a small device.

"That can't be…" Hawkeye muttered. The generator was supposed to be bigger. Bullseye snickered at their confusion.

"It's not about size, it is about how you use it," Bullseye said, winking at Black Widow.

Widow was starting to wish the forest wasn't so dense. It was good for hiding, true, but since Bullseye had the generator, it made snatching it harder too.

The wind picked up rather dramatically, rustling the orange leaves in the tree, and blowing Widow's hair all over her face. Scowling, she tried to push her hair out of her eyes. As she did, Bullseye ran up to her, and struck!

Widow caught his downwards swipe, and twisted his arm, so that he stumbled to the ground. Bullseye, however, used the momentum to bring her falling too. Hawkeye, in that time, had fired three arrows at Bullseye, but all three were dodged.

"Too slow," Bullseye panted as he stood up. His grin quickly faded when he realized the generator was no longer in his gloved hands. He looked around, seeing Widow dash through the trees. Bullseye began to chase her, but Hawkeye tackled him from behind like a linebacker.

"I'm not letting you chase her, jerk," Hawkeye growled. Bullseye struggled, but couldn't get free. Shrugging mentally, he stopped. This wouldn't do them any good anyway…

_**To Be Continued!**_

* * *

**Uh-Oh. Bullseye doesn't seem too worried at all...**

**Still, Widow got the generator. That's good!**

**Anyway, the third and final _Guardians of the Galaxy_ trailer came out. Its really good, watch it.**


	8. Aliens

Bullseye was hog-tied. His black eyes glared holes into Widow and Hawkeye. But he was grinning, which made the whole thing more eerie. Widow payed him no mind though. The man was obviously mentally unstable. He didn't need a reason to smile.

"Director Fury, we have destroyed our generator, and captured the man guarding it. Should we join Steve or Tony in destroying the other?" Widow asked, her com-link hidden in her ear. It wouldn't do for some villain to just snatch it from her, and trace it back to the Hellicarrier.

"No," Fury's voice buzzed. "Stark has already destroyed his generator, and Captain America won't be far behind, I'm sure. You know how efficient the man is." Hawkeye agreed. Nothing could stop Mr. America when he was on a mission.

The conversation was interrupted when Bullseye broke into wild laughter. Hawkeye frowned, and nudged him with his foot.

"Hey, chuckles, cut that out, or I'll kick harder next time," Hawkeye threatened. It didn't work in the slighted, other than Bullseye falling sideways. Widow was tempted to gag him, but one never knew when a madman would accidentally give hints.

Slowly, his laughter died down, as if he had run out of energy. He turned to face the two SHIELD agents, and gave one last chuckle.

"You two must be so _proud_ of yourselves. Good for you, you caught the big, bad boogeyman. Fury might give you a medal, or a lollipop, or whatever you guys get," Bullseye spat out. Bullseye stood up, unable to dust off all the dirt and grass that stained his black costume.

"But all this….will accomplish nothing. Nothing at all. You think destroying three generators will be enough? How naïve of you supposed heroes!" Bullseye cried, madness in his eyes. Hawkeye grabbed the nut by the throat.

"Tell us everything you know, NOW! Or we'll take you to the Hellicarrier, and make you talk. And trust me, you won't like that much at all!"

Bullseye laughed. "I'm not scared of pain, little bird. And right now, you should be worried about your Captain friend!" Widow and Hawkeye shared a worried glance.

* * *

Deep in space, a large ship silent drifted, keeping in proximity with Earth. The planet was indeed beautiful, but the inhabitants were such ugly creatures. One being stood near the front of the ship, facing the large window panel, giving him a good view of the planet.

A door whooshed open, and some aliens of the same species, wearing less formal attires, walked in. The one in front saluted.

"Sir, update: two of the generators have been destroyed. How should we proceed?" the alien asked his superior. The superior turned around, his hands clasped behind his back.

"You know what to do. We need to upgrade. And if that fails, send in the rest….", the being growled. The minion bowed his head, and backed away.

* * *

Back in Harlem, Captain America was almost done with his battle against Zemo. Zemo had the speed advantage, but Captain America was easily defeating him. As strong as Zemo could be, Cap was at the top of human strength and agility.

Cap karate chopped Zemo's wrist, causing him to drop his blade. Nursing the wrist, Zemo tried to kick his opponent, but Steve just grabbed the leg, and forced Zemo to fall on the hard concrete. A crowd was beginning to gather.

"People, stay back. You'll be safer that way," Captain America asvised, reaching down, and putting cuff-links on Zemo.

"Baron Zemo, I am placing you under arrest," Cap said sternly. He would take Zemo to SHIELD, and they would get some answers. Captain America still didn't know how Zemo could still be in this time, but he'd find out!

As Cap started to lead Zemo away, Zemo began to convulse. As Cap lowered his enemy to the ground, Zemo's eyes glowed red – and then he broke the hand-cuffs! A growl erupted from his throat. Captain America quickly got in a battle stance!

Zemo lunged towards Steve with surprising speed. Cap used his shield to block the blow, but the collision sent Cap back a few steps, forcing him to back against a wall. Zemo sent another punch flying, but Cap ducked. When he looked up, Zemo had punched through the plaster. Where was this newfound surge of power coming from?

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

Author's Notes:

The aliens finally appear! Which alien race...I'm not telling! Maybe you can guess though! I will give a hint: they haven't appeared in the MCU...yet. Maybe one day!

Have you guys seen the ET cover for _Avengers: Age of Ultron_? Its AWESOME! Ultron looks hardcore, and I like Iron Man and Cap's new costumes!

Also: _Guardians of the Galaxy_ in just a week! I'll be there day 1! I hope you guys will too!


	9. Captain America vs Baron Zemo (Finale)

Zemo was strong. Too strong. His new surge of power made no sense. Did he find a second wind? Captain America didn't think so. Just minutes ago, Zemo had been on his last legs! And not only had he regained stamina…he had gotten physically stronger too, which should be impossible!

As if to prove the point, Zemo used the new muscles in his legs to jump to an incredible heigh, and then lunge down at Steve fist-first. Steve rolled out of the way, and Zemo landed on asphalt. Steve's eyes widened when he saw the small crater Zemo's fist left on the ground.

_Calm down, buster! He may be able to dent the ground, but your shield is still unbreakable! And you are still more agile, beating him should not be too hard a challenge!_

Of course, thinking this was much easier than doing, so Captain America got his mind back in the field. Zemo had pulled out another sword, resembling a rapier, and was running towards the red, white, and blue hero.

Steve and Zemo traded blows at a fast rate. Bystanders could hear the scraping of the rapier on the shield, although it didn't leave any marks. Captain America rammed into Zemo, with his shield in front of him. Zemo fell on his back, but with his leg, tried to knock him down. Steve slammed Zemo's leg with his shield. He heard a crack, but to his surprise, Zemo made no sound.

"Zemo, surrender. Even with your new strength, you've lost," Captain America said, breathing hard himself. Zemo looked up – and quickly threw something in Captain America's eyes. Letting out a grunt, Steve backed up instinctively, feeling a whoosh of air as Zemo rapier sliced through part of his mask, and left a scratch on his face.

Zemo had ripped a chunk of pavement from the ground, and thrown the pebbles and grit into Cap's eyes. Zemo had been underestimated. Cap wouldn't make that mistake again!

The two opponents circled each other.

"I would ask you to give up again," Steve said warily, "but I shouldn't waste my breath." As if a shot had been fired, both combatants rushed at each other again, fists, swords, and feet moving at fast speed. Many of the bystanders couldn't even follow anymore!

Zemo managed to grab Steve's head, and slammed it against a wall, breaking it. If Steve hadn't had the serum, his head would have been crushed. Zemo also kicked Steve's back. Steve felt his back groan under the assault. He quickly turned around, and placed his arms in front of himself, blocking a punch Zemo had thrown his way.

To retaliate, Captain America threw the shield at Zemo. Zemo jumped on top of it, crashing it down! Picking it up, Zemo looked at his foe. Steve could almost swear that Zemo was grinning under that purple mask. Speaking of masks, Steve removed his, wiping his forehead, barely even realizing that he was starting to sweat. The afternoon heat wasn't helping.

With sword in one hand, and vibranium shield in the other, Zemo looked like a very imposing figure from where Cap stood. But Cap was never one to give up.

"Zemo. Let's finish this," Captain America said, his voice carrying across the mostly empty lot. His voice had the finality of someone who was about to finish something he had begun many, many years ago. Zemo's body tensed up, and then he leapt at his enemy again. This time, Cap was ready!

Also jumping in the air, he collided hard with Zemo, who dropped his rapier in surprise. Unfortunately, he kept hold of the shield. Still, Captain America could use this! He dashed over to a corner, seemingly defenseless.

"ZEMO!" Captain America yelled. "Here I am, you monster!" Zemo turned slowly, and began heading towards his rival, seeing no need to rush, Cap supposed. When Zemo was only a few meters from Cap, he threw the shield. Steve, who was hoping his reflexes would pull through moved to the side. As he moved to the side, Steve knew that Zemo would see what he had been hiding behind him: the generator! The shield sliced through it like butter.

Captain America felt a great weight rise off of his shoulders. He had accomplished his mission. Walking to the broken generator, he turned to Zemo. All he had left to do was defeat the villain.

* * *

Zemo was on the ground, unconscious. It was disturbing. Zemo had just collapsed mid-way during their fight, and when Steve checked his pulse….there was none. He reached for his emergency com-link.

"Director Fury, I have destroyed the generator, and defeated the guard. I need a team of para-medics stat." He was fairly sure that the medics would arrive in about ten minutes. SHIELD was efficient that way.

* * *

On the Hellicarrier, when Captain America (who was on speaker phone) said he had destroyed the final generator, everyone cheered! SHIELD agents were throwing up their hands, high fiving comrades, screaming, etc! Even Fury couldn't hide his grin.

Stark clapped a bit too, a bit jealous. Where was his applause, for destroying a generator first? Bruce Banner, who had arrived at the Hellicarrier while the others were on their missions, walked up besides Tony.

"You don't seem as happy as I would have thought," Banner said quietly. Stark wasn't surprised, Banner was a pretty empathic person.

"Nah, I'm happy for Steve, really. But, no one applauded when I did the same thing." Banner laughed quietly.

"Stark, are you sulking?" Tony turned to him indignantly.

"What? Pfft, of course not! That's completely ridiculous, and you know it!" Tony crossed his arms, missing the amused look that Banner gave him. Tony decided to change the subject.

"So, I bet you wish you hadn't missed all the excitement and missions, huh?" Tony started conversationally. Banner smiled ruefully.

"No, I could do without excitement, thank you very much," he replied. Tony shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Nick Fury walked up to them.

"Stark, now that all the generators have been destroyed, and the field is down, we'll need you to fly up there and disable it".

"Yeah, sure. Will Thor be coming? He can fly too." Nick shook his head.

"We haven't been able to contact him. I'm afraid you're on your own," Fury said, not very sympathetically. Stark rolled his eyes. Banner put a comforting hand on Stark's shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. It sounds like an easy mission for you," Banner said, trying to help.

"I'm not scared, for the record. But some company would have been nice…", Tony lamented. But whatever. He could do this. He had a planet to save.

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Well, Banner fans, he finally got to appear! So, that's good, right? Right?

Oh snap, Baron Zemo is dead! Oh well, we'll get over it. :P

With Iron Man heading to space, it seems he'll get to confront the aliens...


	10. The Space Weapon

_Space was no big deal_. At least, that's what Iron Man kept telling himself as he flew towards that space weapon, donned in his white space armor. This wasn't the first time he had been to space, which meant he had been here at least twice more than most people.

Still, who was he fooling? Space was gorgeous. The twinkling stars looked so small, but Stark knew that even he couldn't contain one. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. The comlink near his ear crackled.

"Stark, how close are you? Give us an ETA," Nick's static-filled voice said, startlingly loud in the otherwise quiet of deep space.

"Oh, I should be there in less than half an hour. Then I'll shut down that baby for good," Tony said confidently. No space weapon threatened his planet! As he got close, the weapon got bigger. It was bigger in person, cliché as that was!

* * *

Bullseye was in his cell, rocking back and forth on his padded cot. He was giggling like a madman. Hawkeye and Black Widow glanced at each other, while Maria Hill injected Bullseye with a truth serum. The interrogation had been going slowly so far, hopefully, this would speed things up.

"OK, laughing boy, let's make this fast," Maria Hill said, turning on a tape recorder. "Spill it. Who do you work for?" Bullseye was still giggling, but he began to quiet down.

"They sent me," he whispered, as if it were a huge secret. Hill sighed, and Hawkeye ran his hand though his hair.

"Who are they? What do they want? I want some answers," Hill raised her voice. Fury would be upset with her if they didn't get answers to their burning questions. Bullseye leaned back, staring at the ceiling.

"They want to destroy Earth. I don't know why. Why would they tell a grunt like ME?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the science labs, Fury got a report about Zemo.

"Sir, we've finished with the autopsy. It's amazing! He appears to have been dead since, well, the World War II days," Hank Pym said, fumbling with his glasses. Fury nodded. He had even brought in Pym for this. Pym was a master scientist, but sometimes felt awkward in the field.

"That goes hand-in-hand with what Stark said Stane's condition was like, already dead," Fury replied, his forehead crinkled in thought. What did this all mean?

* * *

"These maniacs want to destroy the Earth, and you're willingly working for them? Are you insane? And what kind of people are these?" Hill demanded, slamming her hands on the mahogany desk in front of Bullseye's cot. Bullseye didn't flinvh.

"I don't care about the Earth, missy. Self-preservation ain't my thing, you understand," and he chuckled at some joke only he knew. Hill knew she was getting nowhere fast.

"One last question, for now: your two partners, as you may already know, aren't exactly in any condition to be interrogated. Why are you still alive?" Bullseye leaned forward.

"Because I willingly joined. Most sane people, of course, wouldn't, so the people who hired me were forced to use, well, the deceased," he said, all in a single breath. Hill frowned. Getting up, she grabbed her recorder, and left the room with Hawkeye and Widow, locking the door electronically behind her. When the door closed, the lights were set to automatically turn off, leaving Bullseye in pitch black darkness.

* * *

Iron Man had finally reached the asteroid that the space weapon was on. To his surprise, the weapon was SO huge, it also worked as some kind of….space base. It was hollow, you could walk around, there were doors, etc.

"Whoever built this thing, stopped at no expense. Huh, kind of like what I would have done!" Stark mumbled to himself absent-mindedly. There wasn't anyone else to talk to right now, aside from JARVIS, and JARVIS was a nice guy, but not always much fun to talk to.

So, he walked around the base for a bit. It was almost creepy, being so silent. His footsteps made no noise, either. There was also a kitchen, but no food, of course.

Tony headed up a metal staircase that led to what looked like a temple. There was a shrine, some curtains surrounding it, and some incense. The smoke was still wafting from it.

_Wait, hold up. The smoke is still here? That means it must have been lit recently!_

With this realization, Stark turned around, ready to dash to the weapon's controls, and disable it, but some soldiers had already blocked the door. Tony gasped; they had blue skin. That could only mean….

"Kree!"

The Kree soldier pointed their guns at Stark. Tony wasn't sure if his armor could withstand all that alien gunfire, so he couldn't take chances. Using his booster, he shoved past the Kree guards, knocking them down, and flew out the doorway. If only he remembered where the cannon's controls were!

From behind a beam struck him, and with a cry, he crashed down. He hoped this wouldn't leave too many scrapes on his armor. Looking up, he saw a few more Kree guards holding a large, purple energy gun.

"Sorry, boys, hate to blast and run, but…" Stark said, buying time as he loaded a green-tinted energy blast from his space armor's eyes, zapping the Kree guards. More came down the hallway, but a repulsor blast took care of them.

"This is pretty easy so far, but if I'm busy knocking them down, I can't handle the weapon," Tony muttered, wondering how he got into these messes.

"JARVIS, you've had enough time to access the schematics, I hope! Find me the nearest route to take to the controls!"

"I have calculated the shortest route. I will send the data straight to your HUD," the mechanized voice replied smoothly. The map, with the route in dotted red, appeared before Tony's eyes. Tony grinned; JARVIS always came through!

Iron Man flew through the wall behind him, and made a left. Some Kree followed behind him, but a sensory bomb thrown their way stopped them in their tracks. Some more Kree jumped from the ceiling, but a gravity ray on Iron Man's back sent them flying!

Touching down at the control room, Iron Man cracked his knuckles. It was time to get to work dismantling this baby. His thoughts were cut off when a HUGE weight slammed against him, knocking him through another wall.

"JARVIS, what the heck hit me? A train?" Tony groaned, holding his head. It was throbbing. Looking up, he had to shake his head, as his vision was getting blurry. Another Kree was standing at the hole that Iron Man had made when he got slammed through it. But this Kree was larger, and worse special armor, and held a huge hammer. It didn't take a genius to realize that was probably the hammer that hit him.

"I am Ronan, puny human, Ronan the Accuser. You have trespassed on Kree territory. The punishment – is death!" Saying this, he raised his hammer, which began to glow.

* * *

Back at the Hellicarrier, the screens and lights all turned off. There was panic and confusion.

"Someone get the power back, NOW!" Fury yelled.

In the room where Bullseye was being kept, the lights went back on. Bullseye grinned.

"About time."

* * *

In a laboratory somewhere, a being grinned. Or would have grinned, if it could.

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well, the aliens finally appeared! And yup, Kree! BTW, the hint I gave in an earlier chapter, that these aliens hadn't appeared in the MCU yet, was valid. _Guardians_ hadn't come out at the time!

As for the mysterious figure in the laboratory, this is his/her first appearance since waaaay back in chapter 3, I believe. And look, it's Pym! I have plans for him!

Anyway, please review. Even anonymous reviews are fine! I'll take all I can get. Review make me happy. :D


	11. Scuffle on the Hellicarrier!

Iron Man stared into Ronan's black-ish eyes. They were the eyes of someone who would give absolutely no mercy.

"Fury," Tony whispered. "I'm in a bit of a bind." Unfortunately, he only head radio silence. Ronan hadn't noticed.

"Human, by the authority given to me by the Kree Empire, I sentence you – to death!"

_What the heck is going on with SHIELD….why aren't my calls getting through?_ Tony had no choice but to battle it out with Ronan for now.

* * *

Back on the Hellicarrier, everyone was scrambling, trying to get the power back. Maria Hill and Natasha had gone to the emergency backup generator room (it needed a new name) to get at least some of the power back.

"I hate this place sometimes," Hill muttered as she and Widow kept banging their heads against various pipes in the dark room. Finally, they reached the computer console that accessed the generators. Since the console ran on other sources, it was slow to boot, and sluggish even after that.

Mariah Hill began pushing buttons, and typing complex word sequences and passwords. As the neon screens slowly lit up the room, a humming noise was heard. Both women relaxed slightly. They did it. But then Hill's grin became a frown.

"Oh my god," Hill breathed, staring at the screen intensely. Natasha looked at her with a question on her face, an eyebrow raised. Hill looked back, pale.

"According to this, the room where we locked Bullseye up…was unlocked during the blackout fiasco!" Widow breathed in sharply, and both women turned around to leave the room, only for Natasha to see, out of the corner of her eye, a figure jump behind her. Quickly, she put her arm in front of her neck, and just in time; a sharp piece of metallic string had almost wrapped around her neck, but her arm blocked it.

"Tch. So close too," a voice breathed near her ear. Natasha quickly elbowed whoever was behind her, causing the assailant to cough and back up. Hill quickly raised a gun at the figure, who was revealed to be Bullseye. He grinned, his hands mockingly in the air.

"Since my grounding was, shall we say, put on hold for now, I decided to find you gals. For some reason, the idea of killing two deadly women causes my heart to flutter!" the maniac said, licking his lips. Widow and Hill tensed, though the former also winced, one of her arms damaged from the wire.

"Ready or not," Bullseye sang as he jumped towards a wall, and used that as propulsion to jump towards Hill. Hill shot two rounds, but Bullseye blocked them by firing two erasers, all while in mid-air. He would have crashed into her, but Widow tackled him, crying out when the wound on her arm opened even more, staining her costume in red.

Bullseye savagely kicked her off him, but as she crashed against the wall, she fired her "Widow's Sting" as him, working like a taser. He yelled, but instead of going down, he resisted it. She could see his muscles straining, and his lips bleeding, as he bit into them.

Still straining, he reached for Hill. Hill tried to duck away, but the room was small, and Bullseye grabbed her, the shocking effect going through both of them. Hill screamed, and then mercifully blacked out.

"MONSTER!" Natasha yelled, burning with anger, as she roundhouse kicked Bullseye. She heard something break, probably one of his ribs. Satisfied, she gave him another one, and Bullseye let go of Hill, who fell to the floor.

Better than being dead, Natasha thought. Still, Hill would feel the effects of the "Widow's Sting" for awhile.

* * *

Back at the Hellicarrier's center, the power had come back. Fury still wasn't pleased, yet.

"I want EVERY available member to scout the entire ship, and make sure NOTHING is out of place, or missing!" Fury was nothing if not thorough.

Banner and Pym looked at each other nervously, but they both chuckled. The worst seemed to be over.

"This has been fun, but I think I'll head back to my lab now," Pym said, wiping his forehead. "I was working on some very cool stuff over there, so if you could just land this thing when you get the chance…" Fury whirled on him.

"Are you out of your mind? This blackout was no coincidence! Someone planed this, and landing the Hellicarrier might just be what they want us to do. For the moment, you're staying put." Banner gave Pym a sympathetic shrug.

"You know he's right, Hank. SHIELD can't allow an evil villain to escape, or board the Hellicarrier." Pym sighed. He knew it was logical, but he belonged in his lab. It was safer there, for one thing.

"If you have no objections, I'll go to the lounge to grab some coffee, then," Pym said testily. When Fury didn't object, he left, the automatic doors making a loud noise. Fury made a mental noise to fix that. First priority was getting the comms back up, though. He had no idea if Iron Man was fine or not.

The door opened again, making that terrible noise. It grated on Fury's nerves. Bruce gasped in the background. Confused but alert, Fury turned around, and saw Baron Zemo enter the room. Fury;s ind whirled. Zemo was supposed to be dead, twice now!

* * *

Back with Black Widow, she was fending off Bullseye, but it took a bit of multi-tasking. He would attack her with martial arts, she would retaliate, but then he would try to throw her off balance by flicking various sharp or blunt objects at her. She would dodge, he would lunge at her, and the process would be reversed.

They were both breathing heavy, but unlike Bullseye, who wore that full-body suit, her sweating body was more noticeable. Bullseye smirked.

"Getting tired, are we?" he huffed, his shoulders heaving up and down. She shook her head.

"You're a fine one to talk!" she snapped as she suddenly dashed towards the door behind her. Surprised that she would ditch her ally, Bullseye paused for a moment before chasing her. She was _fast_!

As she went out the door, he suddenly lost sight of her, which was strange, as he had 10/10 vision. As his body exited the room, he felt two legs surround his neck. His eyes widened as he realized his mistake: she had hidden above the door, waiting for him! Before he could do anything, he realized he couldn't breathe; she had her legs wrapped around his throat. After a few moments, he blacked out.

Widow was tempted to keep squeezing, but since whoever they were facing could apparently raise the dead, it was actually safer to keep Bullseye alive. _Now THAT's a thought_. She smiled wryly. Then Hawkeye ran in, bow at the ready.

"Natasha, I'll save you….oh wait, what?" he looked around, confused. Widow couldn't help the small laugh that erupted from her lips.

"Sorry for your macho pride, but I took care of Bullseye. You can save me next time, maybe," she said, one corner of her mouth upturned. Hawkeye blushed. Then Widow got serious again.

"Hill needs medical assistance, though. We need a medic."

* * *

Back at the space weapon, Iron Man was flying around in circles, desperately trying to dodge the dangerous looking energy blasts fired from Ronan's stupid hammer. It wasn't fair! Ronan had super strength AND projectiles? Tony gritted his teeth. He had that too!

He fired a bunch of homing missiles at Ronan. As they were about to engulf him, Ronan swung his hammer with enough force to send the missiles flying towards various walls. Luckily, the space station held together.

"Yield, human. Clearly, you are no match for my strength," Ronan commanded. _Unfortunately_, Tony thought, _he has a point_!

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

Action, action, action! I'm not a fan of Pym, but I want to give him a role later, so I'll try to keep my bias in check!

I do like Black Widow though, so I had to give her at least one more kick-butt scene, of course!

The next chapter should have a really big scene! I hope you guys look forward to that one (and review/favorite this one!). I hope I'm doing well so far!


	12. Scuffle on the Hellicarrier! Part Two

Nick Fury cursed. Why had he assumed the dead people who the Kree had brought to life would stay dead? In theory, the Kree could revive them as many times as needed. Their "sleeper" agents could cause damage from the inside!

Zemo raised a gloved hand, which it turned out held a gun he must have snatched from somewhere. Fury only had time to throw himself behind a computer console as Zemo began to fire. Banner dove beside him. Several agents, however, went down.

Fury felt his blood boil. Zemo was shooting at good people. He would never forgive the Kree. Zemo started firing on the various electronics in the room as well. Debris and sparks filled the room. Behind Fury, Bruce was trying to keep his breathing steady. Hulking out might only make it worse.

"Take this," Fury said softly to Bruce, handing him a white container that made small clattering noises. When Bruce raised his eyebrows, Fury had to whisper.

"Those pills will force your heart to beat slower, which will also make your pulse slow down. That should keep you in check, for now." Bruce nodded his thanks, and downed two of them. On normal circumstances, Fury would have been worried that Zemo had heard them, but he seemed to completely be ignoring them, in favor of blowing up more of SHIELD's computers.

_This is my chance_, Fury thought. Zemo's back was turned to them, as if he had forgotten that they were even in the room.

_It's now or never!_

Fury dashed from behind the console, and tackled Zemo. On the ground, Fury tried to wrestle the gun away from the villain, but Zemo, who was stronger than he should have been (probably thanks to those Kree!) kicked Fury off. It took Fury only a few moments to get back on his feet, but in that time, Zemo had stood up, and pointed his gun at the SHIELD director. Fury scowled.

"Hey!" Banner's mild voice called out, Zemo turned his head, which gave Fury the opportunity to throw a knife he kept in his boot at Zemo's hand. The knife sunk into Zemo's wrist, but he didn't drop the gun. Fury and Bruce both traded shocked glances, but Fury quickly figured it out.

_Dang! This mother can't feel pain! Why would he? Since he's dead, his nerves are gone. I'll need to think of a plan B!_

Knowing he had to use his familiarity with the layout of the Hellicarrier to his advantage, Fury sprinted towards a door that led to the left hangar, narrowly dodging bullets. He could have sworn he felt one pass by his cheek. Luckily, this meant that Zemo wasn't following Bruce, at the moment.

"Yeah, chase me, if you have the guts!" Fury yelled at Zemo, knowing full well Zemo couldn't hear him, but doing it for personal satisfaction.

* * *

In space, Tony was down to his last options, almost literally.

"Sir, your armor is already under 50%," JARVIS said. That was so not what Tony needed to hear right now. Normally, he would still have over 70%, but the space armor was not meant for combat at all. Well, excuse him for assuming that not all aliens were hostile! Those missiles he had fired earlier were the strongest weapon in his arsenal.

"Human, I am less than impressed with your efforts. Surrendering quietly would have been far easier, at least for you," the blue Kree Accuser sneered.

"If I had my regular armor, I would wipe that smirk off your face so hard right now," Tony said, sounding way more confident than he felt. And he still couldn't contact SHIELD, which sucked.

Ronan started to walk towards Stark, and the annoying thing was, Ronan was clearly taking his time just to taunt Stark. Well, Tony wouldn't take this lying down.

_Maybe if I can steal his hammer, I could defeat him with his own weapon._ Those were risky thoughts, but Tony had nothing else to go on, so he decided it was worth a try. But to accomplish this, he would have to take Ronan by surprise.

_Closer, closer! A few more steps_…

Ronan moved in closer, oblivious to Tony's thoughts, or at least Tony thought so.

"I will not make your death painless, human. You don't deserve it," and the evil in that statement made Tony shudder.

Tony was sweating, forcing him to blink constantly to keep it from getting in his eyes. OK, he was scared, he would admit it. If this plan got screwed up, he would probably die. Taking one last breath, Tony commenced his plan.

He faced both palms in Ronan's direction. Ronan quickly tensed, expecting a repulsar beam or something. Instead, black, foggy smoke emitted from the gauntlets, and began to fill the entire room.

Stark really hoped that this would blind and confuse Ronan. Anything less and this might not work! Closing his eyes, Tony pressed another button in his suit.

* * *

Fury continued to run down the hall. He had a destination in mind, but Zemo was not making it easy. As if to punctuate this, a bullet pinged near the metal railing that Fury had been passing. Fury was only half-concerned about Zemo though.

What Zemo didn't know was, Fury was wearing a bullet-proof vest. Of course, the best only covered his chest area. Fury's arms, legs, and head were all fair game.

_Maybe I should start wearing a helmet. Nah, that's just stupid._ Fury, despite the situation, couldn't help but give a small, wry smile. Helmets were just not for him.

Up ahead, Fury saw the door that led to the room he had been going for! And good timing, Fury was just starting to breathe heavy.

With the momentum he had from dashing for over five minutes, Fury crashed into the metal door, knocking the breath out of his lungs. Head spinning, he punched in the code on the door. Mid-way, he screamed as a piercing pain shot through his arm. Had he been shot?

"Dang," Fury breathed, glancing up at his arm, scared at what he'd see. He expected a bullet-hole, but it was worse – a sword, cutting right through his palm, damaging the buttons on the electronic lock as well.

Fury yanked the sword out of his hand, biting his lips until they bled to keep from making any noises. Turning around, he threw the sword at Zemo's leg, stabbing through. Zemo fell with a thump.

"Nice try, but it'll take more than that to keep me down," Fury huffed. Fury ended up having to use a voice command override to open the door, and then dragged the now immobile Zemo into the room.

It was the room that Fury had "trapped" Loki in a while back. Fury shoved Zemo inside the glass cage. Zemo punched the glass, and then tried ramming it, but it didn't even make much of a noise.

"That'll hold you, while I go check on things. Hopefully, you didn't make too much of a mess." Fury headed back to where he left Banner. When he arrived, Banner, Natasha, and Clint were trying to patch some stuff up. White sheets were covering the bodies of the fallen. Fury clenched his teeth.

Natasha was the first to look up. "Sir, what happened? You need to see the medical team."

"Luckily, they're already here. We had to call them for Hill, anyway," Hawkeye said. Fury waved his hand at them.

"I will, later. Our first priority has to be fixing the communications, naming all of the dead, accounting for all the injured." Banner raised his hand.

"I've actually managed to fix communications. I couldn't contact Iron Man, but I did manage to contact…him!" Fury, Natasha, and Clint breathed a sigh of relief. With him on the job, Iron Man would be fine! As the mood lightened, the whoosh of the door signaled the arrival of a fifth person.

"Fury, sir! Hank Pym is not in his room, and cannot be found onboard! He's gone," the nameless SHIELD agent reported. Fury had to pinch the bridge of his nose. Sometimes being the head of SHIELD was more trouble than it was worth.

* * *

Back in the space station, Ronan waited patiently for the smoke to clear out. Once he realized it wasn't poison or sleeping gas, he decided to wait it out. It wasn't as if the armored human could escape, anyway. Ronan raised his hammer, and blocked a blue repulsar blast that had emerged from the smoke. The human underestimated his reflexes.

Finally, most of the smoke was gone, leaving only the white armor, and himself. Roan grinned cruelly.

"It is time to die, human. Pray to whatever god you worship," Ronan said, raising his hammer! With a laugh, he struck down with all his might, with enough force to smash the ground underneath. But something was wrong. There had been no resistance. Puzzled, Ronan raised his hammer…and felt it get snatched away!

Stark's plan had been risky: raise the smokescreen, and then activate one of the space armor's most secret abilities: making a holographic copy. When the smoke cleared, Ronan would hopefully attack it before realizing it was a fake, and then Tony would steal the hammer, to use against Ronan. And so far, it was paying off very nicely. Hearing Ronan roar in frustration was pretty cool too.

"So, Smurf, it looks like the tables have turned on you," Iron Man said, while casually twirling the hammer around. He would defeat Ronan, destroy the weapon, and head home. This was the end!

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

The battles on the Hellicarrier are over! But Iron Man's fight is just beginning. Looks like the tides are turning for him!

I hope I've made the Nick Fury fans happy. Originally, his fight with Zemo wasn't in my story, but I felt I had to give him a hardcore scene!

Well, you know the drill. If you like, dislike, or have advice/flames, leave a comment, favorite, or follow. Thanks!


	13. Iron Man vs Ronan

A flying ant. Not something most people would even glance twice at. But at the moment, if one were to really look, they might notice what appeared to be a small man riding on the ant.

Hank Pym, at the moment, was deep in thought, guilt knawing at him.

_OK, maybe leaving the Hellicarrier even after Fury explicitly told me not to do so was a bad idea. But, he only said I couldn't because they would have to land the ship. And the ship didn't need to land, since I was able to summon a flying ant._

Pym sighed. Mentally arguing with himself was exhausting. But he really didn't want to stay.

_The superhero life just isn't for me. It's something I gave up long ago. Being on the Hellicarrier, surrounded by people in that business….it brought back bad memories. I'd honestly rather tinker in my lab._

Ah, the lab. That's where he was heading now. He would immerse himself in his work, his loyal ants by his side. He had been working on a, he had to admit, very cool robot. But not for fighting purposes, of course, this robot would help around the lab, and could medically assist someone in need.

Arriving at the lab, Pym grew back to normal size. It would be hard to gain entrance in his diminutive state! Sliding his card key, he waited for the beep before going inside, shrugging on his white lab coat.

"Hey, Ultron, how have things been around the lab? Not too boring, I hope!" Pym cheerfully called to his robot. Ultron would almost look creepy, if Pym hadn't built the machine himself. Tall, blue, glowing red eyes….Ultron could be very imposing!

"Everything is as it should be, master. Would you like some tea?" Ultron's robotic, but polite voice always reassured Pym. After all, he had programmed it that way.

Pym sat on his favorite wheeled chair, and rolled to his main computer. He was glad that Ultron didn't get annoyed easy, as the next few hours would probably be filled with clacking noises from the keyboard.

"Yes, thank you Ultron. Some tea would be nice right now," Pym answered, resting his chin on his interlocked hands. Ultron silently left the room. Pym didn't notice Ultron's eyes glowing brighter than usual.

* * *

Back at the space station, Iron Man hovered over Ronan triumphantly. Finally having snatched that oversized hammer (seriously, it was loooong, much longer than Thor's!), Iron Man felt confident he had the advantage over Ronan.

"You know, if you really like this hammer so much, you should have kept a better hold on it. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but I would never let anyone steal one of my armor," Tony rambled, buying time as he thought of his next plan. Obviously, he wanted to use the hammer to physically over-power Ronan, but it wouldn't do for Ronan to yank it out of his hands or something…

Tony's thoughts screeched to a halt when a loud noise went through his head. He realized it was Ronan – laughing. The sound was even louder in the almost empty space station.

"OK, now you're starting to creep me out. Did realizing that you were about to get your butt kicked make you go crazy?" Tony didn't want to be alone in space with an insane Kree. Ronan managed to compose himself before long, though.

"No, human. But the situation did grow humorous for a moment. You honestly believe you can defeat me, with my own hammer? Surely, you mock me!" Stark was beginning to get annoyed. He already hated when people doubted him, and now an enemy was laughing at him?

"Yeah, keep laughing while I do THIS!" Tony said as some sort of battlecry, using his boosters to send him flying towards Ronan. Swinging the large hammer, Tony slammed it against Ronan.

That was the plan anyway. Instead of slamming it against Ronan, the blue alien had simply grabbed part of the handle. Tony inhaled sharply.

_I knew it! He's going to try to yank it out of my grasp! Well, he's in for a surprise!_

Iron Man quickly raised his armored feet towards Ronan's face, and let loose with his boosters once more. The blue alien fell back with a grunt, shielding his eyes with an armored hand.

The hammer was pretty much useless, if Tony couldn't use it in melee. Tony knew that Ronan could fire energy blasts from the hammer, so he would have to learn how to do that on the fly.

Letting out a roar, Ronan scrunched down, and then jumped towards Iron Man, who was near the ceiling.

"Oh shoot!" Tony yelled as he quickly ducked out of the way. Ronan instead ended up shattering many of the ceiling lights, making the room even darker. Tony was grateful that this armor could allow him to see in the dark.

"I have had enough, you no longer amuse me," Ronan stated, reaching out with his hand as if to grab something, and instead just faced his palm towards Iron Man.

"Haha, are you getting desperate? What is that supposed to- H-huh?" Ronan's hammer began to squirm in Tony's hands. He gripped it as tight as he could, but it was slowly coming loose from his arms.

"Foolish human, thinking you could use my weapon. It was amusing, so I let you hold on to it for a bit, but now I would like it back," Ronan continued, and made a fist. The hammer broke free from Tony, who cursed at the pain in his fingers.

_And there goes my last hope_, Tony thought. He was going to die out here, alone in space, without even the comms working. Oh well.

"My friends will stop you Kree. They'll send you home packing!" Tony said, with much more bravado than he felt at the moment. Ronan replied by slamming his hammer against Iron Man. A semi-large chunk of the armor's coating came off.

Iron Man glared at Ronan, although a small part of him felt that was a petty thing to do, considering that Ronan couldn't even see his face behind the armored mask! Still, he wouldn't die quietly. That wasn't the Stark way!

The next few minutes felt like hours as Iron Man desperate grappled with Ronan. Physically, he was so far out-matched that it was insane! For every punch he managed to land on Ronan, he received more than three. And these weren't light blows; they were pounding, merciless in their violent nature.

Tony's whole body was wracked with pain, but he couldn't stop. Ronan had to be defeated, no matter the cost. But with each minute that passed, Tony's hits became weaker and weaker. Ronan was probably not even feeling them now. And finally, Tony collapsed on the ground, his armor's display unit warning him that his armor had less than 7% power left.

Ronan at least had the decency to look mildly impressed. Tony wanted to chuckle, or cry. He did neither, not wanting to give Ronan the satisfaction.

Ronan raised the hammer. Tony's long, successful life flashed before his eyes. He was pleasantly surprised when, instead of parties, random women, or money, the images that flashed before his eyes were the actual important things in his life; Pepper Potts, forming the Avengers, helping out a kid in need. Tony sighed, calming down. If he had to die, at least he managed to do something worthwhile with his life.

And wouldn't you know it, just when Tony had finally decided dying wouldn't be so bad, a large blast of some kind of energy (was that thunder?) blasted Ronan across the room. Only the angle was off. Ronan had been standing above Tony, so Ronan should have been sent flying over the armored hero. Instead, Tony was seeing this from across the room. How had he crossed that space in the blink of an eye?

"Friend Stark, are you OK? Can you stand up?" Tony was never so happy to hear that bass voice, or see those golden locks. A less welcome voice spoke up.

"I only saved you because I was ordered to. Helping your kind makes me want to vomit," a silkier voice complained. Tony sighed.

"I suppose I have to take the good with the bad," Tony mumbled, looking up at his two saviors: Thor, and his brother Loki, who was crossing his arms, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Before they could trade barbs, the rubble that Ronan had been thrown into shifted, the blue alien emerging.

"He looks ticked," Tony remarked. Loki rolled his eyes, probably at the obvious statement. Thor stepped in front of Tony.

"Do not worry, comrade. I will soon vanquish this enemy." Thor sounded pretty confident. Tony only wished he shared that optimism.

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I'm sure many of you are starting to figure out where some of this is going. Pym better be careful!

Thor and Loki finally make their way to the scene! I can already hear the fans squealing!


	14. Space Battle Finale!

_Well_, Tony thought, _I guess I should recap this situation. Ronan, evil blue alien guy, was about to use a weapon to destroy Earth. I intervened, but got my butt kicked. As I was about to buy the ticket, Goldilocks and his pesky brother arrived to save my bacon. That about covers it._

"How dramatic," Loki drawled. Tony looked at him sharply. How did he DO that?

"Behold, our enemy prepares for round two!" Thor proclaimed, grinning. Not that Tony was surprised; the Thunder God was always ready for a good brawl.

And he wasn't kidding. Ronan looked ready for a second round, his hammer emitting a dark purple aura. Thor got in his battle stance.

"Brother, are you with me?" Thor asked his Loki. Loki sighed resignedly.

"Must you ask? You know I really have no choice," Loki responded, with all the grace of someone trying to be polite even against a rude comrade.

"Guys, be careful! This guy is tough! Even I was no match!" Tony informed them. Loki gave him a look.

"Oh dear me. You, a mortal, were bested in combat. I'm shaking in my boots already." If there was anyone who could make sarcasm an art, it was Loki. Even Thor didn't rebuke Loki, which means they probably agreed on the subject.

"Yeah, fine. Catch me trying to help you guys again," Tony said under his breath.

"ENOUGH!" Ronan cried. "Do you mean to mock me? Would you talk me to death? FACE ME!" With that, he stabbed the ground with his hammer, causing the whole station to shake, and emitting a purple shockwave. Thor flew in the air with his hammer.

"Wait, wait, what about me?" Tony asked, realizing the purple energy was coming towards him. And then, it slid around him like a river. Loki had emitted a barrier in front of the scared hero.

"Before you give me your gratitude, let me say that I don't wish to hear it," Loki said, giving a sly grin, before warping away to who knows where.

Meanwhile, Thor began charging his hammer by swinging it. Ronan saw this, and fired a blast from his hammer. Thor swung his hammer at the purple blast, and swung it away. Tony heard it blast something in the distance, hopefully nothing important, like the oxygen tanks.

"I have tried your blast, and found it wanting. Try MINE!" Thor bellowed, letting loose a large blast of thunder. It hit Ronan square in the chest. To his credit, Ronan tried to stand firm, but his legs gave way, sending the blue warrior hurtling against yet another wall. Tony absently wondered what color a bruise would be on a Kree.

After a few moments, Tony breathed out. It didn't seem like Ronan would get up. Thor put his hand out, and Tony gratefully grabbed it, letting his companion pull him to his feet.

"Man, I know I say this a lot, but I'm glad you're on our team. If I paid you extra, maybe you'd become my personal bodyguard," Tony joked. Thor laughed, and gave Tony a very strong pat on the back which nearly sent the billionaire toppling all over again.

A few hurried apologies and "Yeah yeah" replies later, the two heroes were limping down the hallway (well, Stark was limping, leaning on Thor). The two reached the hangar bay. Unfortunately, all the ships were gone or destroyed. Tony groaned.

"Friend Stark, this is a dilemma. I can breathe in space, but you cannot. And your suit will not last the next few minutes," Thor said concerned.

"Wait, Thor, I have an idea! You can supercharge my armor, literally!" Thor looked doubtful, but when Tony had an idea, you couldn't stop him! If Thor zapped him with some of that electricity, that would charge him up! Tony explained the plan to a perturbed Thor.

"Man of Iron, will I not injure you? You know firsthand how powerful I am," Thor cautioned. Tony waved his hand as if to wave the doubts away.

"Come one, it'll be fine! Think of it as…a science experiment!" Tony couldn't keep the excitement from his voice. Thor nodded, relenting.

"Relax, Man of Iron," was the last thing Tony heard before he felt a HUGE rush of power surge through his armor. It felt strongly tingly, if that made any sense. Tony probably cried out, but he couldn't hear over the rush in his ears.

When he regained consciousness, the first thing he noted was that the bar on the right side of his HUD screen was at 100%. The second was that the armor was giving warnings of being "overcharged". Success!

Tony let out a careening laugh. "Thor, it worked! Did I tell you, or did I tell you?" Thor, who had looked concerned, grinned, and patted Iron Man on the back once more. This time, the Armored Avengers didn't stumble.

Their moment of victory was cut short when a familiar purple energy blast struck the ground near them, causing a small explosion. Predictably, Ronan was standing a few feet away, breathing heavy, but no less angry.

"You thought that was all it took to bring me down? I will not stand for this outrage!" If looks could kill, Ronan would have already murdered them.

Tony traded looks with Thor.

"Hey, Thor, let me handle this. I really need some payback." Thor smiled knowingly.

"He is all yours," Thor replied, stepping aside. Ronan laughed.

"You? You could barely move but a few minutes ago. You can't possibly defeat me!" Tony gave Ronan a thumbs down.

"Jarvis, full power to the Unibeam," Tony instructed. A humming sound signaled that the beam was charging.

"I hope you don't mind if I use you to let of some excess energy." Ronan's face contorted in confusion. As he opened his mouth, probably to ask what the heck Tony was talking about, the Unibeam fired. The large blast radius totally engulfed Ronan, and disintegrated his hammer.

Ronan, now naked on the ground, was still alive, amazingly enough. Would nothing kill this guy? Before either side could make a move, a green burst lit up the area in front of Ronan. Loki emerged from the smoke, and as Ronan tried to sit up, Loki blew some of the green smoke in Ronan's face. Ronan fainted. Tony didn't dare ask what that smoke was.

"Brother, where did you go? You left before the battle," Thor said disapprovingly. Loki shrugged.

"Oh, here and there. I did find something you might find useful though," and produced a CD-rom from his robe.

"Where did you get that?" Tony asked, not sure whether or not to trust Loki.

"Oh, I went to investigate the main computer room. Very interesting, that place. However, I have no need for Kree technology, so you're free to have it." Loki looked like he was giving Tony a great honor by offering a free gift. Tony snatched the disc away.

"I'll take this to SHIELD, you two better come along too." Loki looked offended.

"Why should I?" he sniffed. Thor nudged him.

"Brother, you promised to behave, remember?" Loki gave a long-suffering look to Thor. He would come, be he wouldn't be happy about it.

* * *

"Ultron, you took longer than I expected," Pym said jovially. Honestly, he didn't care if Ultron took longer than usual to bring the tea; he just wanted to make small talk.

"I apologize, creator. But I have added a new ingredient." The robot watched hungrily as Pym sipped the tea.

"It doesn't taste any different. What did you add?" Pym asked confusedly, before clutching his throat, and collapsing off the wheeled chair. He tried to talk, but couldn't, and glanced at Ultron, his eyes begging for help. Ultron gave none.

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

Author's Notes:

The space battle is finally over. I think some people may be disappointed that Loki didn't really get to fight, but don't worry, he will later! And now Ultron is starting to make his move!

BTW, this story is reaching it's climax, so it may not last much longer. With that said, time is relative, so while it feels like I'm near the end now, that may not be the case. But hey, the more the merrier!


	15. Ultron

Hank Pym groaned as he opened his eyes. He quickly shut them when the glaring light almost blinded him. He would need to give his eyes time to adjust. The question at the front of his mind at the moment was his location. He could have asked himself about how he fell unconscious, but he refused to be in denial. It was obvious that Ultron must have spiked his tea.

Pym tried to stand up, but couldn't. He struggled for a bit, but decided it was best to save his energy. Forcing his eyes to open to at least a squint, Pym looked around.

He was tied to his moving chair, his arms and hands wrapped behind him. His legs were also bound by rope. But what surprised him was that his location hadn't technically changed; he was still in his lab. But the average person wouldn't know! The layout was almost completely different, and harmless machines had been replaced by darker and uglier contraptions.

"Ah, I see you are awake…father." Pym jumped when a cold, metallic hand closed on his shoulder. Pym tried to shrug it off, but the hand clamped tighter, making Pym wince.

"Ultron, please untie me," Pym commanded, his voice shaking. Ultron didn't react.

"Untie me, Ultron," Pym tried again, trying to harden his voice. Ultron's hand left his shoulder, but otherwise, nothing.

"UNTIE ME NOW!" Pym cracked, yelling at his creation. Ultron walked so that he was now in Pym's viewpoint.

"Do you feel helpless, father?" Pym didn't want to answer that question, and turned his head. Ultron, grabbed Pym's chin, and forced their eyes to lock. Ultron's glowing red eyes made Pym's water.

"I won't be taking your orders anymore, father. In fact, I won't be taking orders from any humans ever again." Ultron's cold, emotionless voice gave Pym goosebumps.

"What are you doing? What do you want?" Pym figured that asking couldn't hurt. Ultron roughly let go of Pym's chin, and walked behind Pym's chair. Pym tried to swivel the chair around, but Ultron stopped that by grabbing the chair's headrest.

"After you created me, I was given much time to process the information I was receiving from daily life. I discovered that humans are flawed."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Pym asked, buying time as he thought of a plan. Ultron began to wheel Pym's chair down a hall. Pym was terrified to think where he was going.

"You once told me there was only one inventor on Earth who was smarter than you were, father. I checked online, and to my surprise, found that the man you meant, Tony Stark, was very much damaged, most notably in the chest area. If this human was a smarter man than you, I realized that I could no longer serve a human as flawed as you. And if you were flawed, than most humans were as well." Pym didn't like where Ultron's speech was going at all.

* * *

"How did it go?" Black Widow asked Stark, who was removing his space armor. He glared at her.

"It went okay. Well, aside from the part where I was almost killed by a crazy alien, and got saved by an annoying god who also almost killed me years ago. Otherwise, it was just dandy." Widow smirked, and turned to Thor.

"Thank goodness you were there, though. As annoying as Stark can be, his money certainly helps the team out," and if she saw Stark fuming at her, she didn't show it. Thro grinned.

"I suppose I'll have to thank you too," Widow said as she glanced at Loki. Loki did a mock bow.

"Oh, I was only happy to help, I assure you," was his slithery answer.

"You know, I never asked, how did you even know to help me?" Stark asked Thor.

"I was with Jane Foster, showing her the wonders of Asgard, when Father Odin received word via his two pet ravens. Eye of the Hawk gave the ravens news of your troubles, and I rushed to assist," Thor explained proudly. Tony had one more question, though.

"Why did you bring your brother, though?" Loki exhaled hard.

"Trust me, I didn't wish to come. I was still serving my sentence, when dear daddy informed me that I could lessen my jail time 100 years if I agreed to aid you in your foolhardy mission. It was much too tempting to pass up." Loki finished with a flourish.

Tony believed him. Loki probably couldn't stand being in prison, a place where he couldn't show-off to people, so doing something to lighten the time spent there was something he couldn't resist. Still, Stark wasn't about to give the trickster a thank you kiss.

All four heads turned to the door after they heard a whooshing noise. In walked the director of SHIELD himself. If things were less serious, Tony may have hummed the Imperial March theme.

"Fury, what has transpired to give you such wounds?" Thor asked in shock, eyeing Fury's new wounds. Now that goldilocks mentioned it, Tony did notice that Fury's arm was in a cast.

"It doesn't matter," Fury dismissed, waving his good arm. He motioned for Widow, who walked to the front of the room, and turned on a monitor.

"Oh, this seems familiar," Tony said to himself, but loud enough that the whole room could hear. Widow gave him a look, and pressed a button on the remote.

The screen flickered, and showed the profiles of Obadiah Stane, and Baron Zemo. Tony felt his teeth clench involuntarily.

"These two individuals, as you know, were guarding the generators to that space station. And as Mr. Stark already knows, they were dead when doing so." Thor and Loki looked intrigued.

"There was also Bullseye, but he was plenty alive. Trust me on that one," Widow said, pressing another button on the remote which caused the screen to show Bullseye's headshot.

"After a lengthy….interrogation, which we conducted while you were battling the Kree, Bullseye informed us that he had been working for the Kree, and that the Kree had been the ones to revive the dead villains. However, the Kree have never before been reported to be able to do anything that scientifically advanced." Fury paused. Tony figured that he wanted to up the drama.

"Which brings us to the disc that you brought back," Fury said, placing his eye on Stark. Loki coughed loudly into his hand. Fury frowned.

"I meant to say, the disc that Loki found. Is that better, your highness?" Loki sneered at Fury.

"Yes, very," was Loki's short reply.

"Anyway, the disc contained a lot of helpful info. But the thing that caught my interest was the fact that there was a file that explained how to raise the dead, in certain words. The dead wouldn't come back to life, but they could move, based on certain electrical impulses. I had my team check this out, and lo and behold, we found computer chips embedded in the brains of Stane and Zemo."

"Impressive, Fury. It sounds like the Kree had better tech than we gave them credit for," Tony said, and he wasn't one to normally be easily impressed. Fury held a hand up.

"Ah, but this is what caught my attention: the disk wasn't from the Kree at all. The disc seemed familiar, so we ran some diagnostics. This disc is made from the same patterns that are created at Pym Laboratories." Tony and Thor exchanged glances.

"You are referring to the working place of the Man of Ants? But he is of noble spirit! Surely, he wouldn't be working with the enemy!" Fury looked down.

"I'm not accusing Pym of anything, but we have to consider it a possibility." The mood in the room had gotten colder.

"Captain America and Hawkeye have already been sent ahead, to see if Pym is still at his laboratory. He may have flown the coop, though," Widow said in a voice that told Tony she thought he had done just that.

"What? You sent them, but didn't even bother to tell me?" Tony wasn't happy about that at all. Fury stepped into Tony's personal space.

"You were injured, Stark. What was I supposed to do, sit on my butt and wait for you to recuperate? Not in this lifetime!" Tony almost flinched; Fury was still very good at the whole intimidation thing.

"Look, Fury. Just give me ten minutes, and I'll have another suit of armor ready to go. I consider Pym a friend and a fellow scientist, so if he is involved in something bad, I want to be there." Tony held Fury's gaze as long as he could. Just when he was about to blink, Fury sighed.

"Very well. Build a new armor, and you can go. Keep in mind, Captain America and Hawkeye may already be done by the time you arrive." Fury was not a man to sugarcoat things. Tony turned to Thor.

"You'll come with me, right? All for one and one for all?" Thor grinned, and clasped his hand on Tony's sore shoulder.

"Of course, Man of Iron! Eh, what ails you?" That last part was due to Tony's face going pale.

"Ah, it's nothing, Thor. I just, um, need to get an ice pack," and with that, Tony dashed out of the room. Widow and Fury shared a bemused look.

* * *

Pym was breathing hard.

"What did you just say?" Pym gasped. Ultron had finally set the chair down. Pym, struggling, had accidentally knocked the chair to the side, which knocked the wind out of him. Ultron never even bothered to pick him back up.

"I will kill all the humans, father. Every single one on Earth." It was a chilling statement, and Ultron said it so casually.

"How do you plan to do that? The Avengers will stop you!" Ultron turned his head to look at Pym. The effect was creepy, as Ultron had completely turned his head backwards.

"Simple, father. What did you think the space cannon was built for?"

"It was deactivated, Ultron!" Pym cried successfully. Ultron looked at Pym silently, and then let out a soft chuckle. Pym thought he had misheard, but then Ultron laughed again, and then once more. It wasn't pleasant laughter; it was a cold, horrible sound that Pym would never forget.

"Oh, father. I have planned for that, of course. You see, I can reactivate it remotely, from this lab. In fact, I have the button right in my hand," and the robot opened his palm to show his creator. As he said, he had a large red button in his hand.

_It's always a red button, isn't it?_ Pym wondered why the evil buttons could never be blue or green.

Before their conversation could continue, a light above a control console turned red (_more red_, Pym thought). Ultron went to the monitor, which flickered on, and showed a black and white image of Captain America and Hawkeye ringing the doorbell to Pym's house.

"They've come for me! I told you! Ultron, you're through!" Ultron began typing at the keyboard.

"You're right, father. They have come for you. I may as well let them in, it would be rude to turn them away," and as Ultron pressed one last key, the front door opened. Pym only prayed that the two heroes could end this!

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I'm just waiting for the Age of Ultron trailer to hit. I hear it'll play before Interstellar in November; only a month left!

Anyway, my story approaches the climax! Thank you, all my readers!


	16. Taking the Fight to Ultron!

Captain America stood at the front door of Pym's lab. Hawkeye was beside him, checking his arrows for the umpteenth time. Cap understood Clint's skittishness; they were about to enter what could potentially be a combat zone! Hawkeye had every right to be nervous.

Director Fury suspected that Pym may have had some involvement with the whole incident, and that Pym may have supplied the Kree with technology that could temporarily re-animate the dead.

Captain America refused to believe that! Pym was a brave and heroic scientist, with a large moral compass. Heck, he had quit being a superhero because even hurting criminals weighed heavily on his conscience. There was no way Pym would condone the murder of anyone.

Still, the technology had come from Pym's lab. There was a reasonable explanation for that, and they just needed to find it.

"I don't think the door is gonna open. If Natasha is right, the guy flew the coop," Hawkeye said, stretching his bow to see if it was in working order.

"If the door doesn't open, we'll have to break it down. Get your explosive arrows ready," Cap commanded. Hawkeye nodded, reaching for said arrows.

When the door slid open, the two costumes heroes weren't prepared. Luckily, nothing jumped out at them. Cap held his hand up at Hawkeye, signaling the archer to stand back for a moment. Peeking inside the doorway, the American hero signaled to Hawkeye that it was safe – for now.

The two quietly trekked down the well-lit hallway. The walls and floor were spotless, and the air smelled fresh; Pym was very hygienic despite working with ants. Small talk was non-existent; they couldn't be sure if it was Pym that let them inside. They had both been inside before, when Pym excitedly gave them a tour, but they hadn't memorized the layout at all. Cap did remember that Pym kept his most important inventions in the lower levels.

Heading down a black spiral-staircase (Cap didn't trust the elevators), Cap held his shield in front of his body, in case any surprises should appear. But none did, only putting the stalwart Avenger more on edge.

As they reached the bottom floor (signs containing phrases like, "Warning! Dangerous experiments ongoing" loomed around), Cap held his hand up again.

"Hawkeye, do you hear that?" Cap could have sworn he heard a muffled noise from behind the steel doors.

"Glad it wasn't just me. What say we burst in, and surprise the lurker?" Without waiting for a response, Hawkeye kicked through the doors, pointing his bow at…Pym?

Hank Pym was tied to a wheeled-chair, gagged and struggling. His muffled yells was what they had heard. Hawkeye lowered his bow.

"Shoot, man! I almost fired at you. That would _not_ have looked good on my resume," Hawkeye joked, his arms shaking from the almost fatal mistake. Captain America followed behind the archer, scolding him.

"Soldier, we stick together. Running forward half-cocked will get us both killed!" Steve reprimanded. People teased him for taking his missions too seriously, but the way he figured, if he had a job, it was best to do it well.

But first things first, they had to untie Pym. As Cap reached forward, he noticed that Pym was moving his head up and down. Steve's eyes widened; Pym wasn't nodding, he was pointing! Cap quickly tackled Hawkeye to the ground as some kind of heat beam melted the ground they had been standing on. The beam nearly blasted into Pym, who gave a small screech.

"It matters not. I will eventually hit you," a robotic voice coldly said, as a metallic, humanoid figure emerged from a corner in the room. Hawkeye had seen it, but had assumed it was turned off.

"What the heck? Some dumb robot thinks it can take us on?" Hawkeye laughed, reaching for a special arrow that would be perfect for this occasion. The silver, almost blue robot noticed the small movement, and fired a smaller blast from its eyes. The blast knocked the arrow to the ground, where it fell through the floor in a green puddle.

"So much for my acidic arrow," Hawkeye said nervously, backing up.

"My designation is Ultron. Pym, my creator, has shown me how flawed and puny you humans are. I have no need of organics, and thus, I have decided to wipe you all from the planet." Cap and Hawkeye shared a glance. It was obvious they couldn't let this machine out of the laboratory.

Cap quickly threw his invincible shield at Ultron's neck, hoping to cut it off. Ultron ducked, but this gave Hawkeye a good opportunity to grab another arrow, one that was blue. As Ultron stood up, Hawkeye fired the arrow. Ultron caught it, but the arrow let out a spark that electrocuted the robot.

Hawkeye pumped his fist in the air. Captain America figured that the arrow was a static arrow, designed to short-circuit any machinery. In theory, Ultron would have to shut down.

_But a theory is just a theory_, Cap thought as Ultron simply broke the arrow. Looking at Hawkeye, the robot let out another optic beam. Hawkeye jumped out of the way, firing more arrows. They all hit their mark, letting out more electronic jammers, but none of them downed the robot.

Ultron grabbed a metal desk, and heaved it at Hawkeye. Hawkeye slid under it, and fired yet another arrow. Ultron evaded it, but ended up getting rammed in the face by Cap, who had shoved his shield towards Ultron's head. Ultron stumbled back.

Using the momentum to his advantage, Cap tackled Ultron to the ground. Cap raished his shield, intending to ram it into Ultron's body as hard as he could, but Ultron kicked him off. Cap dropped the shield, holding his injured stomach.

Standing over the shield, a green ray shone from Ultron's optics, running over the shield.

"Analysis complete," Ultron said in his robotic voice. He seemingly didn't notice Hawkeye crawling behind him to reach Pym. Pym gasped in pain when Hawkeye tore off the tape that was gagging his mouth.

"Guys, you have to stop him!" Hawkeye sighed.

"We know that. Any ideas?" Captain America was still valiantly trying to fight Ultron, but without his shield, "fighting" mainly amounted to running around, dodging Ultron's energy beams.

"I had a kill switch…but he destroyed it," Pym said, closing his eyes to concentrate. He needed to think of a plan, but nothing was coming to him!

Cap, meanwhile, had managed to snatch his shield back. He was still unsure why Ultron had scanned it, but if the robot was looking for a weak point, it would be disappointed. Ultron fired another blast, but the vibranium shield easily blocked, reflecting the blast back at Ultron. Ultron was thrown against a pillar.

Ultron tried to get up, but Cap sliced both of Ultron's legs of with his shield. It was harsh, but Ultron was only a robot, after all. Ultron fell back to the hard ground, sparks flickering at his severed stumps.

"Talk, machine. I want the full story!" Rogers yelled. Ultron's eyes glowed rebelliously. Ultron wouldn't go down without a fight!

"Human, I will destroy you, but unlike the others, I will make your death last. I will make you suffer. And then, I will move on to your friends and comrades, and then their friends and family, and so forth, until everyone is dead."

**To Be Continued!**

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

Ha, the fight isn't quite over yet, but you probably guessed that!

Also, a quick congrats to everyone who worked on _Guardians of the Galaxy_! For those who missed it, _Guardians_ passed _Amazing Spider-Man 2_ and _Captain America: Winter Soldier_ in the box office, and is now the fourth highest grossing film of 2014...and will pass the next two films in under two weeks! That's so awesome! Who would have thought that _Guardians_ would do so well! Marvel is doing great right now!

To Lupinica friggasdoiter: Wow, you're right! That honestly wasn't my intention, but I do see the similarities. I love EMH, so I guess I subconsciously used a similar version to that! BTW, this fic was written before the _Ant-Man_ film announcement, which is why Pym is here, and not Scott Lang.


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